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★Part 29★ -❅Amanama!❅
Final Part
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I never expected my relationship with Ochako Uraraka to grow so much in such a short time. From the moment I met her, I thought it would just be some basic partnership so we could both get what we wanted. But, after the eight months I spent with her, something brewed inside of me. I was too late to notice, but it had been there for a long time.
After everything we had been through... those awkward dinners with everyone, the firework festival, studying together, and... the vacation. We never once talked about how we felt about each other. The only thing we did talk about was how we felt about other people.
...
I placed my hand on the old golden doorknob that connected to the balcony door. I could see a figure through the distorted glass, but I couldn't make out who it was. But, I knew. The person standing on the other side of this door was Ochako... and she was waiting for me. Slowly, I turned the knob and a click came from the mechanisms inside. I gulped and pulled. Cold air seeped through the crack of the door as it came open. The sudden temperature change was slightly uncomfortable, but it was weirdly welcoming. Eventually, I opened the door enough to where I could walk through. As soon as I took one step through the doorframe, I froze.
She was standing there, leaning on the railing and staring at the moon. The lights surrounding her reflected off of her bright red dress. The dress' skirt was puffy and went down to her knees. I was speechless. I had never seen another dress like it. To put it simply, it was beautiful. At this point, I wasn't sure if she had noticed me or not. She seemed pretty fixated on the moon, so I was under the impression she didn't hear me. I took a deep breath and started walking.
It was pretty quiet that night. The only things that I could hear were the taps from my dress shoes as the hit the marble flooring of the balcony and faraway cars driving around. So, it was only natural that she heard me even before I started walking towards her.
She lifted herself up from the railing but continued to stare at the moon. Standing behind her, I saw her visibly take a deep long breath before turning around. She wore her usual smile, but this time she had a red flower in her hair to match with her dress. Before now, I still saw her around the school, so it's not like I hadn't seen her for those past five months. But, it felt like I hadn't seen her face in years. Because of that, all of my worries washed away just from the sight of her face alone.
She raised her right hand in a waving motion. "Hey, [F/N]. Been a while, huh?" she said.
"Oh, uh... Yeah, it has been," I muttered while scratching the back of my head.
"Y'know, I'm surprised to see you here! I didn't take you as the party type," she joked.
I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not really a fan of parties. But, I didn't really come here for the party..."
She tilted her head to the side. "Why did you come here then?"
"I came... I came to..." I stuttered.
'This is it... If I just get straight to the point, then I can do what I came here for!' I thought.
"You came to... what?" she asked.
I gulped and breathed in. "I came... to tell you something, Ochako!" I shouted.
I wasn't shouting to be rude or to come off as aggressive. No, shouting was the only way I could put that thought into words. It needed to come out that way.
Ochako took a step back from my sudden increase in volume. "T-tell me...?"
I nodded. "Yes, and it's something really important,"
Judging from Ochako's face after what I said, she was obviously anxious. Well, I feel like anyone would be in that situation.
"O-okay... Go ahead..." she muttered.
I had so much to tell her right then and there. So many things that I needed to say and do. But, I tried to keep in concise. I didn't want to overwhelm her with countless sentences of me just saying the same thing over and over. I wanted to keep it simple.
"I..." I said. "I miss you... Ochako,"
Her eyes widened. "H-huh...?"
"I miss you... so much... We used to do everything together. Hang out, study, help each other out with our past crushes... But, ever since that day, you haven't once gone out of your way to talk to me. I'm not sure what I did, and that's probably stupid of me to say, but it's true. Obviously, I did something wrong, but I don't even know what it is. But, even so, I want to apologize for anything that I did to hurt you... You know that was never my intention. So... please-"
"It wasn't your fault..." Ochako whispered through tears.
"Wha-?" I questioned.
"It was all my fault!" she screamed. "I'm the one who ran away from you because I thought it would be better for you! I'm the one who was selfish enough to think that you were better off without me! I thought I was thinking about your and Mina's feelings, but I was only thinking about myself! Nothing I did was for the good of your feelings! And I did terrible things to Mina, too! By ignoring you, it broke us all apart... It hurt you and Mina... Both of you were hurt because of my stupid actions!"
I had nothing to respond with to that. It was like when she released her feelings back at the vacation home, but a million times worse. There was only one thing I could respond with that would help her.
I walked up to her and hugged her as tightly as I could. Even though we were surrounded by the intense cold, the warmth of her body seemed to erase all traces of it.
"You're the opposite of selfish, you idiot... You did what any person with a heart would do. You always cared about us, even if you didn't see it that way," I said.
"B-but... I never once considered your feelings..." she stuttered while sniffling. "I did something awful to you guys..."
"I don't care what you did... All of that's in the past now... The only thing you should think about is the person you are right here and now... And in my opinion... you're the most caring person I know," I said while hugging even tighter.
She didn't respond. The only thing she did was continue to cry into my shoulder.
"And that's why..." I whispered. "...that's why..."
...
There's something in this world that always seems out of reach. It's something that is gentle and beautiful. And when you try to search for it, you just can't seem to find it. It seems like an enigma to most, something that is just a myth. But, when someone does find it, it will be the person who was meant to find it. Because it was made to work that way.
...
"I love you,"
At that moment, Ochako stopped crying and pulled her face out from my shoulder. She stared at me with her mouth slightly agape and her eyes still glistening from the tears.
'Oh crap. I just said it, didn't I?' I thought. 'I wanted to say it sometime tonight, but this was a lot earlier than I expected... It just slipped out, too'
"What did you say...?" Ochako asked.
'It just felt natural, I guess,' I thought again.
I smiled. "I love you,"
Tears started streaming down her face once more, but not tears of sorrow.
She smiled back. "I love you, too,"
Then, Ochako slowly closed her eyes and leaned forward. I did the same. Our lips connected and with that, we sealed our partnership once more. But, this time, an even stronger partnership than before.
...
Oh right, I can't just end it right there. You're probably curious about what happened with Izuku and Mina, right? Well, it didn't happen right away, but a year and a half later at our graduation ceremony, Izuku finally built up the courage to confess to her. Mina didn't give an answer right then and there, but she did eventually give a response. And ever since then they've been happy together.
Even though it was a bumpy ride for everyone, we all ended up with what we wanted from the very beginning. Spending time with our most important person in the world.
Well, this story was only the beginning of an even longer ride. There are tons of stories that happened even after all of this, but how about we save those for another day.
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❅Amanama!❅ - END
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A/N: And that's the end. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. But, even though I did enjoy it, this chapter was very hard to write. I've never finished a book before now, so it's kinda hard to believe that this one is actually finished up for good. I think the only reason I was able to take it this far was because of all of you supporting this story. If it weren't for your supportive comments and votes, I don't know if I would've continued this story. So, thank you. I mean it.
But, now that we close the book on one chapter, we open a new one to begin another adventure. I'm not sure when I'll be releasing the first chapter of Love Isn't Always Straightforward since I still have a lot of planning to do, but it will come eventually. If I had to guess, expect it to come out sometime early in 2019. But, sometimes I get lazy so it all depends on when I'm in the mood to write.
So, that's all I have to say. Thank you again for supporting and reading Amanama and I hope to see all of you again! Bye for now and have a merry Christmas!! (Or if you dont celebrate Christmas, then enjoy your day and spend it with people you love!)